Fakekou, Trini To The Bone

KOU, aka Sterlin Callender, is a die-hard, Trini-to-the-bone, soca artist. This performer’s passion is to simply make soca music and perform soca music, so it’s no surprise that he’s been walking this path and developing his craft over the last 13 years. Here he tells us what’s been going on with him.

You have been off the UK soca music scene for some time now. What have you been up to?
Family life, along with life in general. But I’ve still been writing and performing around the UK and the USA, mastering and crafting the art and my style.

Remind our readers of who you are, and where your music comes from?
I’m from South Trinidad: Marabella. I’m a patriot to my country and culture – and myself. The music comes from life experience and inspiration from de most high. I have always been considered a worldbeat artiste with a soca tongue. Being influenced by so much music growing up, I continue to push the envelope.

You are Trinidadian by birth, so what brought you to London?
My family lived here, and after visiting I fell in love with this beautiful place. Now I’ve got my own family.

You have recently released a new track called ‘Ah Too Old’, can you tell us a little about that track?
Yes; Ah Too Old is about being an older person, how they think and behave in society and parties – but speaking to police / lawmakers to make them understand that we just want to have fun and enjoy our life, no harm intended.

Now that you’re back on the scene, can you see any changes that tell you UK soca is going in the right direction?
Yes. There’s a lot of young blood and new talent on the scene. They just need the support and platform to be heard – like from yourselves and promoters etc. But there’s still a lot to be done.

We have been told you’re launching your website, onefakekou.com, soon. What sort of content can we hope to see there?
Yeah boi! On my website: the brand of Fakekou, my music videos, documentaries of trips around the world. There will also be pictures and videos of others I’ve met in my travels who helped me to get to this point, from friends to producers to fans. I’m also building up my T-shirt line, so that and more.

We’d like to say thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. But before we go, can you tell us how fans can get in touch with you?
Thank you for having me. Fans can find me on youtube as ‘fakekou’, and on Instagram as ‘fakekouhotmail’; On spotify, I’m ‘fakekou’ – and I’m on some other media platforms as well.